1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming device constructed of a resin material that can be easily recycled.
2. Description of the Related Art
An image forming device, such as a laser printer or a copy machine, well known in the art includes various devices, such as a processing device including a photosensitive member, a fixing device, and the like. An electrostatic latent image is formed on the photosensitive member by charging and exposing the surface of the photosensitive member to light from a laser, LED, or the like. The latent image is developed with toner or another developer into a visible image and transferred onto a recording medium, such as paper. The transferred image is fixed to the paper with heat in the fixing device to complete the image formation process. These devices of the image forming device are supported between left and right frames in a casing. The frames must have sufficient strength to withstand the weight of these devices. Conventionally, the frames in the image forming device have been formed using steel or resin containing glass fibers for reinforcing the frames.
When constructing the frames with steel, however, parts required for detachably supporting the devices must be mounted in the frames. Hence, there is an increase in the number of parts in the image forming device and the amount of time required for mounting these parts, leading to an increase in production costs.
When the frames are constructed of a resin including glass fibers, it is unnecessary to provide such parts for supporting the devices to the frames. However, the frames have limited applications when being used for producing recycled parts, due to the glass fiber content.